This invention relates to an apparatus having a magnetic disk for storing data.
In the field of storage apparatuses using magnetic disks, there are strong demands for a higher storage capacity which may be achieved by increasing the speed at which a surface of a magnetic disk as a storage medium is accessed with a magnetic head, and by improving the magnetic head positioning accuracy; and for a smaller overall size or installation space of a storage apparatus.
For example, in the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 2-278577 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,029 which is a combination of application Ser. No. 324,261, filed on Mar. 15, 1989), a coil of a voice coil motor is supported on a carriage and disposed coaxially with a portion of the carriage to which head assemblies are fixed, and the overall length of the carriage is reduced, whereby the speed of the operation of positioning magnetic heads is increased. Further, guide rails for guiding the carriage are fitted and fixed in cylindrical grooves formed in a magnet of the voice coil motor. The need for members for fixing the rails is thereby eliminated, so that the overall size of the mechanism is reduced.
With this arrangement, however, it is not possible to stabilize or reduce the distance between disks and sliders supporting the magnetic heads, because the guide rails fixed to a head of the voice coil motor are vibrated by a seek reaction which is caused when the carriage is moved for seeking and because the carriage itself is also vibrated by the vibration of the guide rails. That is, it is not possible to increase the recording density on each disk, so there is a limit to the increase in storage capacity.